Thank you again to everyone for the great informative replies. This may not be what most of you will do, but I have decided to get an entry level road bike. I talked to the owner of the LBS and he is aware of my issues with the standover height. My situation is this: there are only 2 bike shops in town. The one that actually does fitting is one that does pressure sells and not the best shop to buy a bike from. The other bike shop is owned by a couple who love cycling and they have been in business for over 18 years and I've been in to talk to them for several days now and they have never pressured me into buying their bikes.

The owner, Scott, doesn't think that the standover height is going to be that much of an issue. He is more concerned about the fit of the bike and has told me that if I get a bike that I like, he will fit the bike to me. I test rode a 51cm bike frame Jamis Ventura Sport and it was definitely not fitted properly to me because of the long top tube.

My current dilemma is also based on the fact that I am just now getting into cycling and triathlons and I just don't have the money to spend on an expensive road bike.

Actually all of these numbers are making my head hurt and perhaps someday I'll be crunching them when I am a superb rider. For now, I'm going to get a bike that I can afford and take it to Scott and he can make sure it's a proper fit.

I will let you know how it goes!